Rail Maintenance Services

What Rail Maintenance Services does

Rail Maintenance Services Pty Ltd (trading as RMS Rail) is an Australian privately held plant and labour hire company founded in 1971 by Peter Schembri as Axiom Plant Hire, originally providing backhoes for sleeper replacement on the Victorian rail network. The company is headquartered in Laverton North, Victoria, with a regional office in Silverdale, New South Wales, and operates across five Australian states — Victoria, NSW, South Australia, Queensland, and Western Australia.

The company's core offering is the hire of specialised hi-rail (road-rail) and non hi-rail plant, equipment and vehicles together with competent, in-house trained operators. The fleet comprises 170+ certified machines spanning hi-rail wheeled and tracked excavators, front-end wheel loaders, truck-mounted and mobile elevated work platforms, site dump trucks, tip trucks, non-destructive digging (NDD) vacuum trucks, water trucks, dual rail-head scrubbing vehicles, drilling/augering excavators, and a wide range of specialised excavator attachments for track construction, maintenance, and vegetation management. Equipment is certified for numerous Australian rail networks, including under live overhead electrical wires. An in-house RTO and Operator Verification of Competency (VoC) program supports the 100+ trained operational staff, and the business holds ISO 9001, ISO 45001, and ISO 14001 certifications under an integrated management system.

RMS generates revenue through B2B project-based wet and dry plant hire, plus operational management and site surveillance services, sold via direct enterprise field sales to rail operators, tier-one construction companies, civil firms, and mining companies across Australia. Pricing is quote-based and project-specific. The company remains family-owned with no disclosed external funding, parent entity, or public listing.

Name

Rail Maintenance Services

Legal name

Rail Maintenance Services Pty Ltd

Website

https://rmsrail.com.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

1971

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

RMS Rail is an Australian privately held plant hire company providing specialised hi-rail equipment with certified operators to rail operators, tier-one construction, civil, and mining companies across five Australian states.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Rail Maintenance & Plant Hire Services

NAICS

Support Activities for Rail Transportation (4882)

SIC

Railroad Equipment (3743)

akta.pro primary industry

On-Track Maintenance Machines (OTM) & Rail Plant Equipment MRO (TLAKAIAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Rail Maintenance & Track Vehicles (Hi-Rail, Track Machines, Inspection Vehicles) (IMAHAIAK)

Keywords

• Rail maintenance services
• Plant equipment hire
• Hi-rail fleet services
• Rail construction solutions
• Earthmoving machinery hire

Headquarters

HQ city

Laverton

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Plant Hire with Operators: Core business providing hi-rail and non hi-rail plant and equipment with competent and experienced operators. Revenue generated through hiring of wet and dry plant, equipment and professional services. Equipment includes excavators, wheeled loaders, tip trucks, elevated work platforms (EWPs), dump trucks, and specialized rail maintenance vehicles.
2. Operational Management Services: Provides project site surveillance and operational management services alongside equipment hire.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

RMS Rail provides wet and dry plant hire of hi-rail (road-rail) and non-hi-rail equipment, machinery, and vehicles with competent, experienced operators for rail construction, maintenance, and civil projects. Its 170+ machine fleet includes excavators with tilt-rotators, elevated work platforms, tip trucks, site dump trucks, NDD trucks, water trucks, and rail-head scrubbing vehicles, all certified for multiple Australian rail networks. Complementary services include project site surveillance, operational management, and an in-house RTO Operator Verification of Competency (VoC) training program.

Product overview

Rail Maintenance Services Pty Ltd (RMS Rail) is a rail construction and maintenance company established in 1971, operating as one of Australia's largest road-rail fleet operators with over 170 specialized machines and vehicles. The company's core offering is a unified service combining wet and dry plant hire with professional, competent operators. Their portfolio centers on hi-rail (road-rail) equipment and vehicles, non-destructive digging trucks, excavators with specialized attachments, water trucks, and scrubbing vehicles—all complemented by an in-house operator VOC training program. Services span rail, civil, and construction sectors with operations in Victoria, NSW, Adelaide, Brisbane, and Perth.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Rail Construction & Maintenance Services Comprehensive rail construction and maintenance services including sleeper replacement, track maintenance, and project site surveillance, delivered through wet and dry plant hire with competent and experienced operators for rail operators, tier-one construction projects, civil, and mining companies.
• Hi-Rail Plant & Equipment Hire Hiring of specialist hi-rail (road-rail) and non-hi-rail plant, equipment, and vehicles with experienced operators. Fleet includes over 170 specialized machines and vehicles certified for numerous rail networks across Australia.
• Operational Management & Site Surveillance Services Project site surveillance and operational management services provided alongside plant and equipment hire for rail, construction, civil, and mining projects.

Quantifiable outcome

• 24/7 operational capacity for maintenance programs and projects
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Premium Global Suppliers (Toyota, Hino, Isuzu, Volvo)minorOthersRMS Rail utilizes equipment from premium global suppliers including Toyota, Hino-Isuzu, and Volvo. These are equipment suppliers/vendors providing the vehicles and machinery that RMS Rail operates and hires out with their operators. Equipment brands include Isuzu, Nifty, Genie for EWPs, Liebherr, Hitachi, Caterpillar for excavators, Volvo for wheel loaders, and others.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves2 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Kennards Hire: Major Australian equipment hire company serving construction and industrial customers. Comparable to RMS in the equipment hire business model, though Kennards is generalist rather than rail-specialised.
• John Holland: Tier 1 Australian rail and civil infrastructure contractor. Comparable to RMS as a buyer/sponsor of specialised hi-rail plant hire and rail maintenance services, though it operates at much larger project scale.
• Downer EDI: ASX-listed major contractor providing rail infrastructure construction and maintenance services across Australia and NZ. Comparable to RMS because both serve Australian rail operators with plant, crews and maintenance services, though Downer is far broader in scope.
• Coates Hire: Australia's largest equipment hire company. Comparable to RMS as an industrial plant hire provider with national reach across construction, infrastructure and mining, though Coates is generalist and does not specialise in rail-certified hi-rail equipment.
• Balfour Beatty Rail: International rail infrastructure contractor delivering track works, electrification and maintenance services. Comparable to RMS in providing rail maintenance and construction services, though operating at much larger international scale.
• CPB Contractors: Major Australian rail and civil infrastructure construction company (CIMIC group). Comparable because it executes rail corridor projects that consume specialised plant hire and rail maintenance services similar to those RMS supplies.

Direct peers

• Vossloh: Global rail infrastructure equipment and services company (track fasteners, switches, rail services). Comparable to RMS because it supplies specialised rail infrastructure equipment and maintenance services, though Vossloh is OEM-led and far larger globally.
• Plasser & Theurer: Global manufacturer and operator of on-track maintenance machines (OTM) and track maintenance equipment. Comparable to RMS because both deliver specialised rail plant equipment for track maintenance, though Plasser is principally an OEM with its own contracting arms.
• Loram Maintenance of Way: US-headquartered provider of rail maintenance equipment and services, including hi-rail and track maintenance machinery. Comparable to RMS as a specialised rail maintenance plant and services provider, though operating predominantly in North America.

Emerging players

• HiRail Technologies: Specialist supplier of hi-rail gear systems and conversion kits for road-rail vehicles. Comparable to RMS as part of the hi-rail equipment ecosystem enabling road-rail vehicle operation on track networks.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/rmsrail

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Rail Maintenance Services